Witness Disagrees
With Scrushy
On Outside Audits

By

Evelina Shmukler Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Updated Feb. 24, 2005 12:01 a.m. ET

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A former HealthSouth Corp. finance executive testified that he was told repeatedly that company founder Richard M. Scrushy was aware of the accounting scheme that fraudulently increased the company's bottom line by $2.7 billion.

Kenneth Livesay, who took the stand at Mr. Scrushy's trial here as a witness for the prosecution, told jurors that he asked William T. Owens and Michael Martin, both onetime finance chiefs at HealthSouth, whether they were telling Mr. Scrushy about the fraud. "I just wanted...